By Brandon Turbeville, Natural Blaze

If recent developments are anything to go by, the United States government could be slaughtering 90,000 wild horses at the behest of the livestock lobby.

The question of what to do with wild horses on land controlled by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has been a subject of debate for some time with accusations that the horses are competing for precious grass resources in the American West.

Pro-slaughter proponents argue that the population of the horses is too large. Opponents, however, point out that 80% of BLM land grazed by livestock has no wild horses on it at all.

Still, livestock industry groups are lobbying for the killing and slaughter of wild horses and burros and the U.S. government is showing signs that it is preparing to do just that.

As EcoWatch writes:

The American Wild Horse Campaign on Thursday harshly criticized Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke‘s appointment of Brian Steed, the former chief of staff for U.S. Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), as the acting director of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as dangerous and out of step with the wishes of the vast majority of Americans.

“Rep. Stewart is leading the charge to slaughter America’s wild horses and burros over the opposition of 80 percent of Americans,” said Suzanne Roy, AWHC Executive Director. “Putting his deputy at the helm of the agency charged with protecting these national icons is like putting the wolf in charge of the chicken coop.”

“Americans don’t want the government to be in the horse slaughter business, and Interior Secretary Zinke should appoint someone to lead the Bureau of Land Management who is committed to protecting, not destroying, America’s historic mustangs,” Roy concluded.

Roy added that the long-term leadership for this agency, which manages 245 million acres of public land in the West, should be determined through a full and transparent confirmation process, not a late-in-the-day political appointment by the secretary.

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The U.S. House of Representatives has already passed the Stewart Amendment to a 2018 spending bill that the AWHC has labeled a death warrant for the horses and burros as it would allow for the killing and slaughter of the animals that the BLM considers surplus.

The Senate has not yet taken up the subject but if it agrees with the House, the amendment could lead to the slaughter of more than 90,000 wild horses in holding facilities and on the range.

EcoWatch reports,

Stewart and Zinke are pushing for the destruction of America’s mustangs to appease the special interest livestock lobby, which views wild horses as competition for cheap taxpayer subsidized grazing on public lands. (Public lands ranchers pay $1.87 per animal per month to graze livestock on public lands while the going rate for private land grazing in the West is $22.60.)

Livestock industry groups like the National Cattleman’s Association are lobbying for the killing and slaughter of wild horses and burros on public lands even though 80 percent of BLM land grazed by livestock has no wild horses present on it.

AWHC is calling on Congress to reject the Stewart amendment in favor of appropriations language that would require the BLM to use non-lethal birth control to manage America’s wild herds, as recommended by the National Academy of Sciences. The Senate is expected to release its 2018 Interior Appropriations bill later this month.

Clearly, if the horse populations needs to be dealt with or reduced, non-lethal birth control is the better option. That is, of course, assuming that the populations are an issue to begin with.

https://www.naturalblaze.com/2017/11/government-slaughter-90000-wild-horses.html